Express-Scripts plans $56 million expansion and 1,500 new jobs over five years

St. Louis is headed to the top ten in college attainment.

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A pillar of our economic development strategy is that, “We will win on today’s regional strengths in focused economic clusters. Explore in detail the four sectors that we believe will shape our region’s future.

“The Banker” … from Central Park West to Washington Avenue

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We’ve condensed a detailed three-year plan into a single paragraph we call our Strategy Statement. It’s all about priorities and direction.

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Our research team has probably answered almost any question that could be asked regarding the St. Louis region. If you can't find it in our Regional Data section, please send a note to Tim Alexander at talexander@stlregionalchamber.com.

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Inner City Capital Connections Program has come to St. Louis. To date, this program has helped 837 different businesses raise over $1.32 billion in capital and create over 11,000 jobs in the inner city. Read more about the program on our blog.

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We believe nothing is more important in St. Louis than achieving Top 10 status in college attainment among the nation's largest metros. Visit www.topteneducation.org to follow our progress.

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If your company represents growth potential for the region -- or you know of other companies that do -- we'd be pleased to help however we can. Please contact Jim Alexander at jalexander@stlregionalchamber.com

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St. Louis is home to 16 Fortune 1000 companies and some of the largest private firms in the U.S.; but don't overlook the ever increasing number of high growth small-to-medium enterprises and startups. Click here for a quick summary.

About Us

The St. Louis Health Leaders Forum is an initiative of the St. Louis Regional Chamber as part of its economic development strategy. Through the Health Leaders Forum, the Regional Chamber seeks to drive economic growth by

Identifying strengths and gaps in each sector and across sectors

Rallying leadership and resources

Expanding relationships by creating a holistic network of industry professionals in ancillary industries

Creating and curating meaningful and relevant content to drive strategic insight and generate new business development

Chairperson Bio

Laureen Tanner is a highly accomplished senior executive with 35 years of success within healthcare and hospitals. She has proven her ability to grow healthcare businesses and turn around failing systems in the healthcare market. Laureen is a Registered Nurse with experience in acute care, academic medical center hospitals, human resources, and nurse placement. She leverages extensive experience to improve operations while reducing costs. Her areas of expertise include staff development, communications, finance, visionary leadership, creating culture, fundraising, troubleshooting, turnarounds, customer engagement, customer service, adult and pediatric care, quality improvement, patient safety, and marketing at the state, federal, and commercial levels.

Laureen currently serves as the President and CEO of Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital. When she initially joined the Hospital 18 years ago as the Chief Operating Officer, the Hospital had 42 employees, five patients, a $2.8 million budget, and a terrible reputation in the healthcare community. Today, the business is licensed as a children's hospital, with 350 employees, 34 patients, a $28 million budget (expect to grow to $50 million within the next few months), and the hospital is in a construction process to double their space. Laureen's role In Ranken Jordan's turnaround and success cannot be overstated; she completely transformed the organization based on the needs of the community. She recreated the organization and realigned it with the medical
community to achieve a respected reputation both locally and nationally. She has built a very strong and talented executive leadership team and a reputable culture of excellence.

In her role with Ranken Jordan, Laureen executes a model of healthcare that does not exist anywhere else in the country. Ranken Jordan is a pediatric bridge hospital providing a continuum of care for medically complex children and their families. They take very sick children and facilitate the transition between the Intensive care unit (ICU) and home. Ranken Jordan has created a unique and much-needed service for the very expensive patients that exist every community and make it less expensive for those who pay for healthcare. They prepare parents for the care needed at home so that there is not an overuse of emergency departments as well as a reduced chance of the child returning to the ICU. This model of healthcare increases the quality of care while decreasing cost.

Prior to her success with Ranken Jordan, Laureen worked at St. John's Mercy Medical Center. She joined St. Johns as a Clinical Nurse III, but quickly worked her way up the ranks to become the Nurse Manager of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Over her tenure at St. John's, she was known for turning around poorly functioning medical divisions. She drastically Increased staff retention as well as patient and physician satisfaction. She established a shared governance unit, which is still in place today, and Instilled a servant leadership culture. She also managed neonatal practitioners, transport team, and respiratory therapists for the entire pediatric division.

In addition to her executive career, Laureen has held multiple board roles, advisory positions, and professional memberships over the years. She frequently advises businesses with patients who have acute care problems; she has served as a guest speaker on leadership at numerous nursing schools and businesses. She spoke to an audience of 700+ people about employee engagement at a company called Cerner and gave presentations on leadership and culture at the Barry-Wehmiller Leadership Development Institute. She has received several awards, including the Visionary Leadership Award from the HealthCare Business Women’s Association, and has been named as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Business Women by the St. Louis Business Journal.

Laureen ls a registered professional nurse in the states of Missouri and Illinois and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. She also holds a B.S in Nursing and an M.S.N in Nursing Serving Administration from St. Louis University.